Sapere Aude

“Islamic State recruiters are targeting vulnerable refugees in Europe to radicalise them in an effort to further polarise the European Union population, counter-terror experts have warned.

Europol, the law enforcement agency of the EU, said it was in the interests of Islamic State to inflame the migration crisis and to turn EU citizens against refugees seeking asylum.

A number of jihadis are already travelling through Europe for this purpose and German authorities were aware of about 300 recorded attempts to recruit refugees trying to enter Europe by April 2016, Europol said in its report, Changes in Modus Operandi of IS revisited.

“Given that it is in the interests of IS (Islamic State) to inflame the migration crisis to polarise the EU population and turn sections of it against those seeking asylum, there is a risk of some infiltration of refugee camps and other groups,” the report published on Friday said. “A real and imminent danger is the possibility of elements of the (Sunni Muslim) Syrian refugee diaspora becoming vulnerable to radicalisation once in Europe and being specifically targeted by Islamic extremist recruiters.”